Month: February 2017

As Tim Cook said in a recent interview: “Too many of us are just in the complain category right now and haven’t figured out what to do.”

Nobody has to solve every problem they see, or fix every wrong. Every small thing we do to change things for the better is our contribution to the big change we desire.

There is so much to be upset and angry about these days, it’s easy to fall into reaction mode.

We absolutely need to call out the wrongs being done, but we also need to make sure we have a plan in place, a message to present, something for people embrace so they have an alternative to the easy-answers rhetoric of the Trump administration.

The message needs to be well honed. It needs to be short, sweet and powerful. There need to be details and facts to support the message, but that needs to be kept out of the way until needed. Simply having facts and details will be a differentiator.

But we (we being the broad range of people who object to Trump’s agenda) need to begin working on two things. One, coming up with a clear, powerful message. Two, deciding who will deliver the message.

I believe different parts of the message can come from different groups. But I think it’s important all the groups show unity.

Trump is trying to play all of us for fools.

First, he is casting doubt on all critical news.  It’s a disturbing attempt to convince people that only the word of Trump is valid.

Second, he is creating chaos to pit us against each other. If people are fighting each other, then they’re not fighting him.

Don’t be a fool. Don’t blindly believe everything the media report. But don’t dismiss it. Certainly don’t believe everything Trump says. And don’t blame anyone but Trump for the things Trump does (except possibly Bannon).

We live in a democracy. We do not live under a system of government where we are excpected to accept the outcome of the last election and acquiesce.

Trump presents the greatest danger to our democracy I have seen in my lifetime. Part of that danger is relying on people to throw up their arms and stop caring enough to speak up.

That’s what will turn this country away from its democratic principles and turn us into an autocracy, a dictatorship, an authoritarian regime.

Protesters in Texas, ignored by their representative in their first request for an audience, say they plan to come back every week. That’s the spirit we need.

If we give up, we are doing nothing less than giving Trump all the tacit support he needs to continue to deprive all of us of our rights and freedom. Today it’s “Muslims” and “Mexicans.” Tomorrow it might well be you, and if you’re silent now, it will be too late then.

A bill to sell off acres of federal land was pulled.

According to the article in The Hill, this effort was opposed by “conservation and sportsmen’s groups.”

I think there’s two important things to note about this success.

1. The bill was opposed by groups that don’t always see eye to eye. While “just getting along” in this era of Trumpism is a bogus strategy, it’s also smart to find temporary allies. Don’t reserve alliances only for those who align very closely with you. Where there’s common ground, leverage it.
2. The article makes it seem that the driving force behind getting this bill pulled was the efforts of a group that Trump himself is a member of.

This battle against seeming insanity need not force us to behave in shameful ways, descending to the level of those we oppose. But it will require we fight smart. 

The election. The past two weeks of President Trump. The ban on “Muslim” countries. The narcissistic Black History Month speech. The unqualified nominees. The Republican party falling in line, breaking rules and playing dirty, to align themselves with Trump.

I have a lot of thoughts on a variety of topics. I hope to cover many of them. But, sadly, it took abominable acts by the U.S. government to finally get me started.

And then the onslaught of horrific news almost paralyzed me.

So I’m just jumping in.